A group of people was once
traveling through a desert, when it so happened
that three of them strayed away and got lost.
Tired and thirsty this trio wandered around the
desert in the hope of finding some respite. Finally
their quest came to an end when they discovered
a high well. The first man rushed to it, looked
over the wall and found it full of delicious ambrosial
water. He immediately exclaimed in a gesture of
frenzied euphoria and jumped into it never to
come back. The second too did the same. The third
man finally walked over quietly over to the well,
peeped over its high wall and then turned around
and went back, returning to the desert to search
for his other fellow travelers, to help guide
them to this paradise.

The life of a bodhisattva too
is made of similar stuff. In strictly canonical
terms a bodhisattva is defined as an individual
who discovers the source of the Ultimate Truth
better known as nirvana, but postpones his own
enlightenment until he has guided all his fellow
beings to this same source of fulfillment. A formidable
task to say the least. The path of the bodhisattva
is thus one of extreme self-denial and selflessness.
According to the Lankavatara sutra (4th century
BC):

" A bodhisattva wishes
to help all beings attain nirvana. He must therefore
refuse to enter nirvana himself, as he cannot
apparently render any services to the living beings
of the worlds after his own nirvana. He thus finds
himself in the rather illogical position of pointing
the way to nirvana for other beings, while he
himself stays in this world of suffering in order
to do good to all creatures. This is his great
sacrifice for others. He has taken the great Vow:
"I shall not enter into final nirvana before
all beings have been liberated." He does
not realize the highest liberation for himself,
as he cannot abandon other beings to their fate.
He has said: "I must lead all beings to liberation.
I will stay here till the end, even for the sake
of one living soul."

The word 'bodhisattva' itself
is prone to a rich etymological analysis. It is
composed of two words 'bodhi' and 'sattva' both
of which connote deeply spiritually meanings.
Bodhi means "awakening" or "enlightenment,"
and sattva means "sentient being." Sattva
also has etymological roots that mean "intention,"
meaning the intention to enlighten other beings.
Thus the composite word bodhisattva signifies
the very essence of the divine beings it refers
to.

Buddhist aesthetics, very much
like its literature, brings home spiritual truths
in the simplest manner graspable by all. The various
bodhisattvas too dominate the spectrum of Buddhist
art, illustrating this abstract conceptualization
in as hard hitting a manner as do the various
myths surrounding them. The most prominent bodhisattva
in this regard is Avalokiteshvara.

The word 'Avalokiteshvara'
is derived from the Pali verb oloketi which means
"to look at, to look down or over, to examine
or inspect." The word avalokita has an active
signification, and the name means, "the lord
who sees (the world with pity)." The Tibetan
equivalent is spyanras-gzigs (the lord, who looks
with eyes). The text known as Karanda-vyuha (8th
century AD) explains that he is so called because
he views with compassion all beings suffering
from the evils of existence. It is interesting
to note here that a dominant feature in the description
of Avalokiteshvara is his capacity to "see"
the suffering of others. No wonder then that he
is often represented with a thousand eyes symbolizing
his all encompassing ability to view with compassion
the suffering of others, thus sharing in their
sorrows, a first step towards their ultimate alleviation.
Not only that, he further has a thousand hands
too which help in the mammoth task of delivering
innumerable beings to their ultimate spiritual
fulfillment.

The mythology associated with
Avalokiteshvara is as interesting as his iconography:

Once by his sustained efforts,
Avalokiteshvara was eventually able to deliver
all sentient beings to enlightenment, managing
salvation for everyone. Enthused, he reported
the success of his efforts to his spiritual father,
Amitabha. Amitabha asked him to look behind himself.
Turning back, Avalokiteshvara saw the world again
being filled with new sufferers who awaited their
escape from the constant cycle of birth and rebirth.
Sinking into despair, the eyes of Avalokiteshvara
shed tears of compassion. He wept so pitifully
that his head burst. Amitabha attempted to assemble
the pieces but did not entirely succeed. In the
ensuing confusion he put together nine complete
faces, each with a gentle expression. Above this
he placed the demonic head of Vajrapani that functions
to ward off evil, and finally at the very top
he placed his own head to ensure that in the future
such a happening did not recur.

He thus sits on guard at the
top of the rows of heads of Avalokiteshvara making
definite that Avalokiteshvara in his infinite
compassion doesn't get carried away, leading to
his own destruction.

In addition to Avalokiteshvara
two other important bodhisattvas are:

Manjushri

Once
at a meeting of numerous bodhisattvas at the house
of Vimalakirti, the lay disciple of Buddha, a
debate developed on the meaning of nonduality,
an essential precept of Buddhist thought. After
many bodhisattvas had finely expressed their opinions
on the subject and their success at understanding
its essence, it came to Manjushri's turn. He got
up and announced that all the previous speeches
were themselves conditioned by linguistic limitations
and were subtly dualistic. When Manjushri turned
to Vimalakirti and asked for his views, Vimalakirti
just maintained silence, thus demonstrating the
truth of Manjushri's statement.

This story is a beautiful reflection
on the irony of scholarship attempting to express
itself through a medium (speech/language), which
contains within itself a contradiction of the
very fundamental ideals which it proposes to expound.
In this particular case Manjushri identifies this
sublime and intrinsic inconsistency. An exalted
individual may wax eloquent upon the virtues of
non-duality and his grasp of this abstract concept,
but the very language used to expresses these
views is inherently dual as it is composed of
word and it's meaning, two exclusive entities.
This subtle, nonetheless significant gradation
brings home a profound truth taking the wind out
of any sense of achievement derived out of purported
scholarship. Verily thus Manjushri carries in
his two hands a book and a sword.

This sword is there to cut
of fetters born not out of ignorance but those
which arise through knowledge, signified by the
book. This is not a negation of bookish knowledge,
but only an assertion of the realization that
unless we gain it we cannot know the futility
of it in the quest towards ultimate spiritual
truths. Manjushri appropriately suggests not the
path of renunciation but that of righteous karma.
A Zen story illuminates this aspect:

Once the chief cook of a temple
on Mount Wutai (the favorite mountain of Manjushri),
was busy making lunch. Manjushri repeatedly appeared
sitting above the rice pot. This chief cook, who
later became a noted Zen master, finally hit Manjushri
with his stirring spoon and drove him away, saying,
"Even if old man Shakyamuni came, I would
also hit him" In Zen temples the position
of chief cook is highly esteemed. This story denotes
the priority of taking care of everyday life,
beyond attention to high-flowing rhetoric. Caring
for the details of daily life is sometimes seen
as more important than spending time in studying
sutras or in concentration in the meditation halls,
and indeed many monks perhaps including this chief
cook, have been encouraged to abandon any preference
for meditation over ordinary work.

Reconciling Manjushri's actions
with his status as a bodhisattva we realize that
here we see a rare but distinctly significant
affirmation in Buddhist thought of an existence
composed of normal and 'ordinary' family life
rather than that of denial. The carrying out of
one's duties is as spiritually fulfilling an activity
as any other 'bodhisattvic' deed. Consider for
example the activity of cooking. The Bhagvad Gita
says that one who cooks for others acquires the
highest merit, while that who selfishly cooks
food only for his own consumption commits a sin.
Likewise the temple cook was engaged in an effort
of the highest merit. Indeed for contemporary
times this is an ultimate tribute to those women
of the house who diligently provide us with sustenance
which fulfills not only our physical needs, but
also nourishes us spiritually.

Maitreya

According
to some Buddhist traditions, the period of the
Buddhist Law is divided into three stages: a first
period of 500 years is of the turning of the Wheel
of the Law; a second period of 1,000 years is
of the deterioration of the Law, and the third
period of 3,000 years is the one during which
no one practices the Law. After this, Buddhism
having disappeared, a new Buddha will appear who
will again turn the Wheel of the Law. This future
Buddha known as Maitreya is beloved to be still
in the Tushita heaven, in the state of a bodhisattva.
It is believed that Gautama Buddha himself enthroned
him as his successor.

The word 'maitreya' is derived
from the Sanskrit word for friendliness. Thus
this bodhisattva is fundamentally said to embody
the qualities of amiability and an attitude of
well-meaning sympathy.

According to a legend there
once descended to the earth from Maitreya's Tushita
heaven a Chinese layman and teacher named Mahasattva
Fu, widely regarded as an incarnation of Maitreya.

Fu attracted many students
to his Dharma lectures. Living in a time of great
hardships and famines for the peasants, he sold
all of his possessions to feed the local villagers,
and also fasted to give away his food to the needy.
Fu once undertook a long hunger fast to protest
against the king's treatment of the poor. He announced
that he would finish the fast with a fiery self-immolation,
as an offering to benefit all suffering beings.
At the culmination of his fast, many of his followers
offered to burn themselves in his place, some
going to the extent of burning their fingers or
cutting off their ears as offerings and engaging
in other ascetic extremes. They finally convinced
Fu to abandon his plan.

The notion of a bodhisattva
sacrificing his complete physical self or at least
parts of it conforms to a similar notion expounded
in ancient Buddhist texts. For example the 'Shat-sahasrika
Prajna-paramita' (5th century AD) says: "Besides
wealth and material objects, a bodhisattva should
be ready to sacrifice his limbs for the good of
others, his hand, foot, eye, flesh, blood, marrow,
limbs great and small, and even his head."
Indeed in the Jataka tales which are legendary
stories about bodhisattvas, there abound numerous
instances where they are shown sacrificing parts
of their bodies or even their lives to save that
of another.

A persistent paradox regarding
Maitreya is his visualization as an entity of
the future. This presents a contrast to much of
Buddhist practice and teaching which emphasizes
the importance of the present, the current moment.
This is sometimes referred to as the timeless
eternal. According to the Buddhist viewpoint time
does not exist as some external container, but
is the vital expression and enactment of our own
being right now. Time does not exist separate
from our own presence.

As a bodhisattva associated
with the future, as against the fundamental stress
Buddhism places on the present moment of time,
Maitreya presents a wondrous amalgamation and
a complex composite on the plane of time. Buddhist
esoteric thought achieves this is in a skillful
manner by associating him with children. Children
are but the 'present' of our 'future.' A number
of stories abound which illustrate his loving-kindness
for children:

Once in his incarnation as
a spiritual poet, Maitreya was asked by a relative
to help in dealing with his son, who was becoming
a delinquent. The poet (Maitreya) visited the
family and stayed the night without saying anything
to the son. The next morning as he prepared to
depart, he asked the boy's help in tying up his
sandals. As the lad looked up from doing so, he
saw a tear roll down the poet's cheek. Nothing
was said, but from that time the boy completely
reformed. The easy camaraderie with children and
attention to young people shown by Maitreyan figures
amply justifies the 'friendly' origin of his name
as described above.

In China too, Maitreya is synonymous
with his supposed incarnation as the tenth-century
Chinese Zen monk Hotei, popularly known as the
Laughing Buddha. Hotei is legendary as a wandering
sage with supernatural powers who spent his time
in village streets rather than the security of
temples. His image is recognizable as the fat,
jolly Buddha, whose statue can be seen in all
Chinese Buddhist temples.

Hotei's name means "cloth
bag," and he is believed to have carried
a sack full of candies and toys to give to children
with whom he is often depicted in play.

This scruffy, disheveled Buddha
adds to our understanding of Maitreya's warmth
and loving-kindness. Hotei's fat belly and affinity
with children reflects yet another aspect of Maitreya
in popular folk religion, that of a fertility
deity. He indeed is worshipped by those wanting
to have children, This ritual is especially popular
in Korea.

Conclusion

The Samadhiraja-sutra (4th
century) explains why a bodhisattva does not feel
any pain, even when he mutilates himself for the
good of others. When Buddha was asked how a bodhisattva
could cheerfully suffer the loss of his hands,
feet, ears, nose, eyes and head, he explained
that pity for mankind and the love of bodhi sustain
and inspire a bodhisattva in his heroism, just
as worldly men are ready to enjoy the five kinds
of sensual pleasure, even when their bodies are
burning with fever.

A bodhisattva should regard
every action and movement of his body as an occasion
for the cultivation of friendly thoughts for the
good of all creatures. When he sits down he thinks
thus: "May I help all beings to sit on the
throne of enlightenment." When he lies on
his right side, he thinks thus: "May I lead
all beings to nirvana." When he washes his
hands, he thinks thus: May I remove the sinful
propensities of all creatures." When he washes
his feet, he thinks thus: "May I take away
the dirt of sins and passion from all creatures."
In this way the body can be converted into a holy
vessel of benediction. Blessed indeed is he who
loses his physical existence in doing good to
others. A bodhisattva can never love the body
for its own sake, if he cherishes it, he does
so only because he will gird himself up to save
someone sometime somewhere on some occasion in
the moment of tribulation.

By conceptualizing the lofty
ideal of a bodhisattva, Buddhism sets a high standard
of virtuous conduct for us ordinary mortals to
emulate, thus striving for a spiritually enriched
life radiant with the glow of selflessness, indeed
the foundation for a meaningful and fulfilling
existence, both for the individual and for the
world around him, of which he is but a microcosm.